The Blacker the Berry

A daring voice of the Harlem Renaissance challenges beauty, prejudice, and belonging.

In The Blacker the Berry, Wallace Thurman delivers a bold, unflinching portrait of Emma Lou Morgan, a young Black woman whose deep complexion makes her the target of colorism-within both white society and her own community. From her small-town beginnings in Idaho to the electrifying streets of 1920s Harlem, Emma Lou searches for acceptance, love, and a sense of self in a world obsessed with skin tone.

Thurman's sharp, witty prose captures the glitter and grit of the Harlem Renaissance while exposing the painful realities of intra-racial prejudice. At once a personal journey and a social commentary, the novel is groundbreaking in its honesty-refusing to soften the complexities of identity, desire, and self-worth.

Fierce, poignant, and decades ahead of its time, The Blacker the Berry remains a powerful exploration of race, beauty, and the human need to belong. It's both a vivid snapshot of an era and a timeless story of resilience against the forces that would define us.